Wednesday, March 9, 2016

002 // The Vegan Experiment

I've always admired vegans for a number of reasons. As you guys ready know, I am a vegetarian and have been one for forever. No fish, no eggs, no chicken. I was raised by my Rwandese grandparents, in a village, on a farm with just cows and plants.

So, needless to say, I am not a vegan.

I would wake up every morning with ekyanzi* full of amachunda* with many refills throughout the day. My porridge didn't taste good if it wasn't 70% milk. Oh, have you heard of African tea? 3 parts milk, 0.5 parts water and 0.5 parts tea.

So, no, I am not a vegan.

But I really wanted to try it for reasons explained in The Vegan Proposal. I thought I would try to go on a 10-day vegan excursion. Today is day 3 and I must say, so far, so good. However, I've changed it from 10 days to 7, to now 5. *insert embarrassed emoji here*. Here's what I've learned so far.

Vegans are not to be messed with

Anybody who can completely alter their lifestyle so immensely deserves some sort of award. Maybe its because of my close relationship with milk but I can not imagine living without. Milk is in everything!

I have an addiction

Okay, I have two addictions. I thought my only issue was milk, but I have an addiction to coffee as well. I never thought I'd stoop so low as to drink coffee without cream; but I just couldn't go without it. Even if that meant drinking it completely black - no sugar, no cream *cringe. I'm talking about actually holding my nose to drink it because my body craves it.

Almond milk tastes like breast milk

Don't ask me how I know this

Can you actually be vegan and paleo at the same time?

What are the ingredients in tofu? Needless to say, I could only choose one or the other.

I don't think I can ever be a vegan

I will stick it out for the next few days, however, and see if my mind changes. But I can't explain to you how it feels to go to bed without tea.

Now, here's a rundown of my food for the last few days.

Monday

I was feeling so lethargic from not drinking coffee that eventually I had to give into the drug. Spent all day feeling sorry for myself while staring at the leftover pizza, Boca burgers, chocolate bars, and milk in the refrigerator. I ate like 3 bananas and cassava with beans. The beans had ghee - which I realized later. However, the ghee is from my country and since my family made it, I know it was cruelty free so no shame there.

Tuesday

I went on a jog Monday night so I wasn't feeling as bad as I did Monday. I made a smoothie with strawberries, apples, bananas, and almond milk. I'm used to putting milk and yogurt in my smoothies so the taste really had to grow on me. Otherwise, I indulged in a quinoa, tofu, and brocolli dish with avocado on the side for dinner.

Wednesday

The cravings continue, I came this close to putting creamer in my coffee. I must say, the sugar cravings haven't been bothering me at all. I guess I am more of a salt person. We'll see how the rest goes.

Ekyanzi - Wooden pot you store milk in - I think it keeps it cool in the warm African weather.

Amachunda - literally yogurt in its most natural state. It's like fermented milk - more of a kefir consistency, Greek yogurt taste.